G'day OpTrader.I agree.To add a bit to this debate we need also...

G'day OpTrader.
I agree.
To add a bit to this debate we need also to realize that the blow off top in gold is still a fair way into the future and that is a good thing because we still have a lot of gains to be had. If we were getting huge runs now we would probably be close to the end.
I also have a theory about the ETF's that are so popular now with gold investors.
These funds are taking a lot of the gold investors dollars that in earlier times would have gone into gold shares and pushed up the prices of the gold shares.
A lot of the people who previously bought gold shares, in order to gain exposure to gold, are now buying the ETF's.
These people were very conservative investors who were buying for the safety of gold, and shares were the only relatively easy and liquid way to get that exposure.
Now everything has changed with the ETF's being liquid and easy to buy.
These buyers saw the gold shares as still risky compared to physical gold and now they can avoid that risk and buy physical gold through the funds.
It is just my theory but I feel it is close to the mark as you just have to compare the success of the ETF's to the lack of price gains for the gold shares to see what I mean.

Kind regards

Lockitt